Stevie Nicks has suggested that Fleetwood Mac will no longer perform as a group following the death of singer-songwriter Christine McVie.
McVie, who was responsible for some of the band’s biggest hits, including “Everywhere” and “Little Lies”, died on 30 November 2022, aged 79. Her cause of death was later revealed to be an ischaemic stroke.
In a new interview with Vulture following the release of her new Barbie doll, Nicks, 75, was asked whether the British-American rock band would continue to tour without McVie.
“I felt like you can’t replace her. You just can’t. Without her, what is it? You know what I mean? She was like my soul mate, my musical soul mate, and my best friend that I spent more time with than any of my other best friends outside of Fleetwood Mac,” she said.
“Christine was my best friend. When I think about Taylor Swift’s song ‘You’re on Your Own, Kid and the line ‘you always have been’, it was like, that was Christine and I. We were on our own in that band. We always were. We protected each other.
“Who am I going to look over to on the right and have them not be there behind that Hammond organ? When she died, I figured we really can’t go any further with this. There’s no reason to.”
Nicks added that the band would be significantly impaired without the hits that McVie had written, which also included “Don’t Stop” and “Say You Love Me”.
Christine McVie (left) and Stevie Nicks in 2018— (Getty Images)
“Christine was the pop star,” she said. “She wrote all those really super pop hits. None of the rest of us could write those songs. What would happen is we’d have to take the songs out, like we did when she actually retired for 18 years. We couldn’t re-create those songs. So we became a much more hard-rock band.”
Nicks’s comments echo those of drummer Mick Fleetwood, who said at the Grammy Awards earlier this year: “I think right now, I truly think the line in the sand has been drawn with the loss of Chris.
“I’d say we’re done, but then we’ve all said that before. It’s sort of unthinkable right now.”
McVie originally joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970 after marrying bassist John McVie. She left after 28 years in 1998 before returning in 2014.
At the time of her death, Fleetwood Mac wrote in a statement: “There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie. She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure. She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life.”
